Archive for November, 2008

AFIA is officially 1 year old today! To celebrate, we have a new batch of great stories and some new features, too. Last month, you may have noticed the appearance of a “rate this” widget next to each story title. We didn’t mention it then, since we wanted to test it out before announcing it, but now that it’s up and running, feel free to take it for a spin! Let the authors know what you think of their tales by voting with the new “rate this” widget, or the old fashioned way with a comment or two.

CHAPTER ONE: THE SEEDS Before there were hands to rip roots from the earth, blades to spill the juices of strong green stems, and minds to decide what was beautiful and what was nothing more than a weed, two seeds came into being. It is impossible to say what plant birthed them, for they wereRead more…

Hermann Humpfmeier was not having a good day. It had been three months, now, since he had had a good day. Three months, since he had been kidnapped from his comfortable place in Frau Fassbinder’s front garden. Since then, he had traveled on twelve different airplanes (freezing in the baggage compartment every time; wrapped upRead more…

Her mind was slipping. Beneath her cobweb hair and paper skin, I imagined shuddering cogs and pistons that were losing steam. It was that quiet slipping that took her away from us. The others were fragile in their own ways. They had clouded eyes and muted ears. Their stiff limbs relied on wheels and sticksRead more…

Every time the door opened, a belch of icy air would rush in. I sat behind the counter, looking at the multicolored lotto tickets beneath the glass, the neatly stacked cases of pop at the end of the aisle, the headlights outside the window, moving slow and careful on the snowy road. Anything but theRead more…

The wolf watches us from the far corner of the enclosure as the girl fumbles with her keys to let me inside. I don’t bother to call to him; his hearing isn’t as good as it used to be, and, besides, he won’t come near until we’re alone. In the brochure, they called the enclosureRead more…

A creaking sound, like thick glass cracking, came from the half-frozen stream below us. Terèsa’s pole had broken through. My cousin lay on her stomach on the bank, where the willow’s dead fronds swayed over her body and down to the water like a curtain of whips. “I did it!” she called. Her voice carriedRead more…

Our tiny house had thin walls. Not long ago I used to fall asleep at night to the sound of my mom humming in the kitchen, my dad’s news show mumbling on the TV, and my brother tapping out his email in the bedroom next to mine. Now, thin walls only meant that even thoughRead more…

“My main trouble, doctor,” said the man on the sofa, “is that ….” “Go on.” Dr. V’s legs had been crossed right over left; now he gave the reverse a whirl. “Is that whenever I see a – bottom,” not wanting to say ass to a medical man (though he didn’t hesitate to make aRead more…